Goshen Mayor Backing Liegl’s Industrial Park

The mayor of Goshen, Ind., wants to help Forest Forest Inc. CEO Pete Liegl develop an industrial park on the city’s north side, The Goshen News reported.

The Goshen City Council will consider the mayor’s request for appropriation to make it happen at its Tuesday (Feb. 1) meeting.

In an e-mail to be included in the council packet, Kauffman, a Democrat seeking re-election this year to a fifth term in office, gave some advance explanation of the appropriations he is requesting, including a $250,000 from the Major Moves fund for design of utility infrastructure for Liegl’s industrial zoned land on the north end of town.

The largest appropriation request will affect an area owned by Liegl along the west side of Ind. 15 north of Brenneman Memorial Missionary Church. Kauffman wrote in the e-mail that the action would be consistent with the city’s past action of extending water and sewer utilities to the Hoogenboom Nofziger land in Waterford Commons.

“When the economy turns, and if someone wants to build on that land and bring good paying jobs to Goshen, we wouldn’t want to have a delay while utilities to the site are designed,” Kauffman said. “Once designed, they can likely be constructed in the amount of time it would take for the developer to put up a building.”

No construction of utilities would take place until the developer confirmed something would be built.